BARTER: A method of trading goods, commodities, or services, directly for one another without the use of money. In a barter exchange one good is traded directly for another. This sort of exchange ultimately requires a double coincidence of wants, meaning that each trader has what the other trader wants and wants what the other has. Without a double coincidence of wants the exchange process can become exceedingly complex, requiring a great deal of resources to complete transactions, resources that can not be used for production. In fact, inefficient barter trading was the primary reason that money was invented. With money, more resources can be used for production and fewer are needed for trading.

     See also | good | service | money | exchange | double coincidence of wants | resources | production | market |

BARTER, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2024. [Accessed: December 6, 2024].

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A legally established maximum price that is imposed on a market BELOW the price that otherwise would be achieved in equilibrium. A price ceiling is placed on a market with the goal of keeping the price low, presumably based on the notion that the equilibrium price is too high. If imposed on a competitive market free of market failures, a price ceiling creates a shortage, or excess demand.

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